Category Archive for: ‘NEW Thinking’

JA: Let’s talk about one other area, the difference in small and big businesses. One of your new game mantras is “Love serve and love some more.” That is a very, very different approach with a mantra, especially in this world, you use “love serve, love some more.” Where are we going with this, buddy?

MA: I couldn’t get away with that fifteen years ago. I’d have been laughed out of the offices where I went in.

I’ve seen an evolution. You and I have talked about the science of axiology, the science of human values. A model I developed I call the hierarchy of human interaction. If you look at this one thing right here what I’m going to tell you has changed businesses around completely. The hierarchy is a three dimensional model.

The hierarchy from bottom to top is:

Obey, Serve, and Love. Let me explain.

MA: There are the three levels of human interaction:

The lowest level of human interaction is when you call up a company for service, you want a problem solved and you hear those dreaded words, “I’m sorry, Mr. Assaraf, that’s our policy here. Those are the rules. Those are our procedures.”

Just the words themselves make my skin crawl. That’s the lowest level of human interaction that ninety percent of the businesses out there are playing at meaning they spend more time trying to get the customer to understand why they can’t help the customer because they have their rules.

The policy approach to customer human interaction is the lowest level. Unfortunately, most companies do that. You will transform your business if you just up-level one level to service. Instead of saying, “Sorry, that’s our policy here” say,

“How can I help you? How can I serve you?”

Companies literally transformed their customer service with this question. And this is one of the things that we show companies how to do which has had such an enormous effect.

How do you convert customer service from an expense department into a new business profit center? When somebody comes and calls for service, never, ever put your rules and policies ahead of serving the customer, unless there is some potential legal liability. But if there is anything other than some legal ramifications, always put serving ahead of obeying.

You could stop there and transform your company. But here’s the highest level of human interaction; it is love. It’s the difference of saying to somebody, “How can I serve you?” which is a great thing to do in going through the process and listening to somebody and saying, “You know what, John, I really understand you. I understand how you feel.”

That shift to compassion, empathy, understanding, sympathizing with people, even if you heard that complaint fifty times that day, people will overlook bad service when they feel they are cared about. The thing that has resonated with me and for a lot of people I’ve shared it with, I do what I do for one reason, I play the game for the love of the game.

I believe that The New Game of Business is about playing the game for the love of the game. Why? Because it’s not just business, it’s personal. People love to be cared for. They’ll overlook mistakes. They’ll overlook bad policies. They’ll overlook most anything if you care about them. The insurance industry did a study; they realized that eighty percent of the customers would buy again if one thing happened that’s not happening. You’re not going to believe what it is–if the agent would just show up.

This mantra “love serve and love some more”, is almost like love until it hurts. I’m not saying that this should be a Polly Anna approach. This is a very pragmatic philosophy and strategy of business. People warm up to it. People respond to it because there are so few experiences out there that we have in the course of our lives that we can point to and say, “That person cared about me. That person served me and that person did everything they could and they did it in the spirit of love.” You know when somebody is doing something in the spirit of love and caring and serving as opposed to just doing it because they have to. That’s become one of my new mantras.

JA: It’s interesting because there is evidence when we love a plant, animal, or human, the response is great. One of the hierarchy of human need is love. We beg for it from the time we are born. Without it we become so small, we don’t grow and we don’t mature. I think you’re one hundred percent right, in the game of business we can love our customers. We can show them respect and love and kindness and compassion and in doing that we appeal to a higher sense of humanity. I’ve always believed that.

I was fortunate that my business partners we very, very successful, not just because they were smart businessmen but because they really cared about people and people knew that and everybody wanted to do business with them. To this day everybody wants to do business with them.

I think, by the way, Mitch, you have a book right there with your pyramid, “Love Serve Obey, The New Rules for Business in America.” “Love Serve Obey” with a great tag line underneath, “The New Rules for Business in America.” Huge. Just a thought for you.

MA: Thank you, John. I appreciate it. You know we’re all too close to our own stuff.

JA: It’s so unique. For those of you listening, I hope you don’t mind, there’s a great idea of how do you separate yourself, how do you differentiate yourself? Nobody is doing that in corporate America right now. Guess what, it’s what they need to hear. Every single business from a one-man operation or one-woman operation all the way up, if they follow the Love Serve Obey model, business would transform.

MA: Yes. And you know what? People get hung up on the words, they get hung up on, “Did I say the right thing?” What I try to do with people is say, “Just relax because when you’re coming from Love and Serve, people get it.” And you could make a mistake just to see how people would respond and apologize for the mistake and people will bend over backwards. You’re absolutely right.

And if you buy into the idea that it’s not just business, it’s personal, then love is actually good for business. It would be wonderful if it spread not just in terms of the client, the customer business relationship, but if companies who I believe a lot of major corporations have if companies could start appreciating their human assets as human beings, not just points on a balance sheet, they would never lose anybody. People want to be cared for and they want to be cared about and that’s really got to start from the CEO down.

To start celebrating my 30th business anniversary,
I will share 30 insights over the next 30 days
across a variety of NEW Games.

Beginning today and continuing through February 29,
each day you will get one game-changing play to read,
listen to, or watch that will elevate your game.

On some days like today, tomorrow February 1 and
Saturday February 2, we’ll also have LIVE phone
conversations you can join and we can speak like
humans.

We’ll share skills, models, tools, approaches,
strategies, tactics, inspiration, ways of being,
doing and thinking that have served and profited
me and more than a million people in 30 countries.

On some days like today, you get both LIVE and
“Memorex” (aka, digital for the under 30 crowd).

It’s Not JUST Business…. It’s Personal™!

When I first coined this phrase back in the
20th century, businesses still played by the
old game rules…

“It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.”

NEW Game businesses have put this old game
mantra out to pasture. They know,

It’s Not JUST Business…. It’s Personal™!

Why am I doing “30 years in 30 days?”

First, because business is personal to me.
I’ve always taken my business personally.
I’m sure it’s that way for you, too.

Generosity is one of life’s golden values.
I love to give as much REAL value as possible.
Sharing feels good. It’s also good business.

Second, I want you to discover the depth and
breadth of value we have that can improve the
quality of your life and the quantity of your
results. I am very proud of the positive
difference we have contributed to the people
we serve.

Third, my 30th anniversary collection. I am
assembling a lifetime collection we will be
making available. Your experience will help
us make it as player-friendly it can be.

What better way for you to know with absolute
certainty that this collection is worth having
than to experience it in real time? All the hot
marketing pieces, sales copy and testimonials
we can muster will not be as compelling as
you getting 30 real exposures and experiences.

Fourth, I want you to share these nuggets with
others. I ask that you invite friends to receive
this 30-day experience. This expands our ability
to impact more people.

I invite you to send your friends, family and
colleagues to jump into this game.

They can sign up at our VIP page here and get 6 powerful NEW Game audio interviews.

A confluence of forces is conspiring to create a cauldron of critical change.

We are experiencing seismic shifts in the economic, political, ecological, technological, scientific, educational, social, and spiritual dimensions of life. We face humanitarian challenges of the size and scope not faced by any generation before us.

We have created a bit of a mess to clean up on this globe. Clean it up we must, for if we don’t, the stench will stay with us for generations.

Our storehouse of information and knowledge expand more in one year than past generations experienced in a lifetime. Yet, with all we know, we can’t find the wisdom to live together without poverty, hunger and war.

Never before has so much critical change converged at one time on one generation.

If change is your enemy, the road ahead will be rocky.
If change is your friend, you are in for the thrill ride of your life.

The path you choose will shape the future.

Some people say WWII veterans, the Baby Boomer parents, were the greatest generation. To get this planetary ship back on course, let us summon the courage and put forth an effort as great as the greatest generation.

YOU are the most important person on the planet.
You and I form the most powerful team imaginable.

I recently heard Deepak Chopra site a Gallup poll that Nigeria is the #1 country in the world on the “happiness” scale. Mexico, Puerto Rico and Cuba are near the top.

In happiness, Americans are 16th out of 25 countries surveyed.
In health, Americans are 37th in the world.

How is it that so many of us who live in the “wealthiest” country in the history of humankind are unhappy and unhealthy?

These two quiet epidemics are serious business.

And because what happens in America rumbles through the world like rolling thunder, our challenge is your challenge, wherever on this spinning orb you are reading this.

Is it possible that health and happiness can be inversely related to wealth?

How is it that most of the “happy” people live in countries with lower incomes and standards of living?

Is it possible the cost to win the money game is to sacrifice health and happiness?

America’s “worker satisfaction” numbers say so. An estimated 70% of employed people say they want to leave their jobs. They are:

* Not fulfilled nor challenged.
* Not doing what they like.
* Not earning what they think they are worth.

They are not willing to scale back consumption or downsize their lifestyle to do work that would be more enjoyable but might pay less.

They feel stuck.

This conflict causes major stress. Stress breaks down mind and body, and weakens the immune system. A weakened immune system leads to illness and disease [“dis-ease”].

I am sad when I see someone trudge through life like it’s a sentence to be endured rather than a journey to be enjoyed.

If you live in a modern country with the opportunity to work and improve your lot in life, you are fortunate indeed. If you are doing work you don’t like, you have the free will to choose something different.

There may be a trade off.

You may have to go backwards or sideways to do something you like.

Life is not a straight line.

Success is living the experience and enjoying the journey more than simply reaching the destination.

A GOAL is just another port of call.

Your ROLE deserves more of your attention.

How to direct your energy (attention) and invest your life force (time) are the most important choices you make every day.

In the video below, I explain how to use the Stimulus-Response Model to:

* Stop Reacting, Start Responding
* Make Better Choices by Controlling Your “Decision Gap”
* Eliminate Stress and Tension when Making Decisions
* Open People’s Minds to Really Hear Your Message
* Clear a Person’s Past to Be Fully Present with You
* Align Your Speaking with Their Listening
* Give the Gift of Being Present to Everyone You Meet
* Build Deeper and More Meaningful Relationships

Strengthening your ability to respond, not react, makes
you happier, healthier, wealthier, and more relaxed.
You align and bond with people in a whole new way.
This model will transform your business and your life.

For the past few months, I have been running silent and deep, doing a lot of “NO-Box” thinking, and playing…

Reframe the Game™!

I encourage you to take some time to run silent and deep.
I encourage you to embrace ‘NO Box’ thinking.
I encourage you reframe the game.

I encourage you to start TODAY!
You will experience payoff in so many ways.

These NEW frameworks change the game.
Old thinking and old models won’t work in a new game.

Inside the box or outside the box is still tethered to the box.

“Outside the box” is just inside a BIGGER BOX!

NEW thinking is NO Box thinking.
No box thinking is game changing thinking.

It’s the kind of thinking you use to reframe the game.

In every area of life, from business to money, marketing, to media, selling to service, parenting to politics, learning to training, coaching to consulting, religion to spirituality, self development to self-fulfillment, book buying to book selling, individuals to multi-national corporations…

EVERYBODY, EVERYWHERE IS PLAYING A NEW GAME!

Every game is being re-framed.

THE DEFINING QUESTION OF 2007 IS:
*** HOW WILL YOU REFRAME YOUR GAME? ***

How will you play a new game of business,
money, and life?

I heard Warren Buffet sum up his game plan
for success in seven words…
“I don’t play the other guy’s game!”

It destroys the human spirit and reduces market potential for everyone.

Theft is anti-ecological, corrupts the market, increases injustice, and reduces potential for order and wealth in the world. Theft causes scarcity by taking something that belongs to someone else. Scarcity results when you are robbed of one or more of five sources of wealth. Theft of expectations is on the of five thieves.

Chasing these thieves away enriches the world, attracts money and material wealth, enlivens livelihood and opens the way for spiritual expression. Eliminating these increases your wealth in all dimensions, for yourself and others.

Today, let’s illuminate and eliminate theft of expectations.

One of the biggest killers of human potential and economic prosperity, theft of expectations affects human relationships in every way. How we deal with met expectations AND, more importantly, how we handle UNMET expectations affects our self-confidence and self-esteem. It also weighs heavily in our future choices and decision-making.

Everyone has experienced the disappointment of stolen expectations. This is especially true in the areas of money, business and finance. Every person I know and have ever met has in some way, been robbed of expectancy. This can have a major impact on how you see yourself.

An example of stolen expectations so prevalent in today’s world is the proliferation of “money-making” business opportunities. Being in business for yourself is one of the most challenging of all endeavors. Yet, marketing and advertising claims scream at us every day how we can make tons of money with little work, effort, time, risk or investment. We are told stories of riches beyond our wildest dreams, shown pictures of people on boats, in front of new cars and at the doorway to their luxury homes. The captions usually read or imply,

“THIS COULD BE YOU!”

Think back to the last experience when your expectations were stolen, and how it left you feeling afterwards. Not a pretty picture. This is a crime of the highest magnitude in the spiritual and infinite worlds. Although it is not a true crime in the material and emotional worlds, theft of expectations almost always leaves us poorer economically and emotionally.

Another area in which theft of expectations runs rampant is in the buyer-seller relationship. False expectations relayed by a seller to a buyer of the real benefits and value of a product or service leaves us confused and uncertain, breaches trust and damages long term relationships.

This is why 90% of the people I ask the question, “Do you like to be sold?” will answer “NO!”

Even sellers and distributors of products and services themselves (aren’t we all in some way) dislike being sold. Why?

Because their past experience of having their precious expectations stolen.

Conversely, false interest or expectations by a buyer also diminishes the market. A seller’s time is his stock in trade, regardless of the product or service sold. Wasting time with tire-kickers is wasting life. We all sell something, and everyone has had time wasted by people pretending to be interested. As a professional, it is your job to qualify people more carefully, and spend as much of your time with the HUNGRY FISH as possible. How do you know?

Ask a few simple, direct questions like,

“What is your real time frame for buying, or taking action?”

“If you found what you were looking for, how soon would you want it to start working for you?”

These and related questions point to the most important piece of information you need to know about your buyer to invest your time wisely:

When will you act?

We waste so much time with just about anyone who expresses interest, that we sometimes actually foster and subtlety encourage theft of our expectations by buyers. This can be minimized by asking these questions, and establishing an open dialogue about the importance of respecting time.

I find myself saying much more often,

“I really respect OUR time – yours and mine. I want to make sure we are on the same page. Where in the buying process are YOU? Are you ready, or just getting ready? Are you looking for alternatives to get started right away, or just shopping for now?”

The more you can professionally determine the state of readiness of your buyer, the more efficient and effective will be your interaction.

As a buyer, don’t let people think you are close to buying, if you are not. Be an open and honest buyer, and you can expect your interactions with sellers will be much more professional and enjoyable.

As a buyer, YOU manage the relationship. As a seller, it is so much more fun and productive to work with honest and truthful buyers. It is a measure and reflection of our professionalism to be able to know with certainty where the buyer is in the BUYING CYCLE™.

Stop Exporting American Jobs…
Transform Customer Service into NEW Business Profits!

“People all over the world want what you have… including your job. The difference in the new game is that they don’t have to come to America to get it! By exporting our culture and now, our jobs we’re sending it to them!” — Your Humble Blogger

There is a feeling of inevitability that we can’t stop the exporting of American jobs.
Over the next 10 years, a tidal wave of work will be shipped abroad and there is little America can do to prevent it. The NEW Economy is global, and everyone everywhere wants their slice of the pie.

It’s been happening for decades, but the recent exodus is painfully acute. Service people are being hit hard. Jobs are leaving and not coming back. When a company can hire twice the number of service people at half the expense, the bottom line payoff is too appealing for many companies to pass up.

The truth is a bitter pill, but swallow it we must:

Exporting of service jobs will continue unless we change the game.
It’s time to play a NEW Game.

It’s a global marketplace, and we are competing with talented people from all around the world. Most are hungry and eager to climb the ladder to a higher economic rung. The are willing, able and committed to work long and hard to advance themselves and their family’s quality of life. They are coach-able. They take pride in their work. They do good work. The want more of what life has to offer.

THEY WANT WHAT YOU HAVE… including your job!

Who can blame them? They are smart, talented people who work hard, long and for less money to boost their standards of living. Truth is, there are plenty of people everywhere who can do what you and I do, and if given access to our jobs they will compete on the best leverage they have:

PRICE and TERMS!

They are willing to work for a fraction of your price, and will accept whatever terms come with the job.

If they can do your job for a lot less money, you become expendable and vulnerable. Your job, skill and knowledge are no longer protected, no longer scarce. It’s a tough game to play and win when your rival is willing to work twice as hard for half the price.

The global marketplace shifts the playing field. Americans are not prepared, nor ready to play this new game. Our greatest strength is our Achilles heel. The problem of being the lead dog is that the rest of the world is constantly nipping at your heels. Climbing the ladder is what America is about and why people risk life and limb to come here. I say it again:

THEY WANT WHAT YOU HAVE… including your job!

THE BIG DIFFERENCE TODAY IS THAT…
THEY DON’T HAVE TO COME TO AMERICA TO GET IT!

By exporting our culture and our jobs, we’re sending it to them!

It’s a NEW World with NEW Rules!

To maintain our competitive edge, we need NEW thinking, NEW models, NEW strategies, NEW solutions, and NEW skills. We need a NEW Game!

American companies export service because they view service as an expense department, a cost item on their income statement. A company will always consider ways to cut costs by changing vendors, suppliers, manufacturers, buyers, distributors, location, operations, technology or workers, even if it means exporting jobs to another country.

A Solution to Stem the Tide of Exporting American Jobs…

Turn Customer Service from Cost and Expense into NEW Business Profits!

The prevailing service paradigm is one of reaction, problem-solving, putting out fires, listening to angry, frustrated, upset, whining, complaining, threatening customers. That’s a formula for red ink, which is what most customer service departments contribute to their companies. As one of corporate VP put it, “It’s a necessary evil.”

Necessary, indeed, but evil? This paradigm is old game, and will continue to grease the chute for companies to export any service than can be done elsewhere for less, even if it means a falloff in customer satisfaction. In some cases, the bottom line payoff from lower costs is worth the tradeoff in customer care. This is not the company line, but it’s the cold, hard truth.

In the next few years, our economy will continue to shift from a service model to a new model dominated by distribution. Millions of people who watch their service jobs get replaced or eliminated will find themselves by choice or chance in the distribution channel. More and more people will move out of “reactive” service and move into proactive distribution; in other words, sales.

It’s natural for consumers to buy from people they know and trust. It’s true for most cultures that people tend to buy from their own: Americans prefer to buy from Americans, Asians prefer to buy from Asians. People have a stronger bond with, and trust for people they know than they do for outsiders, and value existing relationships over new service providers.

The good news: SALES ARE WHERE THE MONEY IS!

The better news: WE DO IT BETTER THAN ANYONE!

You tilt the playing field by transforming customer service from an expense center into a NEW business profit center.

Customer service will continue to be a target of “outsourcing” for as long as it remains an expense center. If a company can lower costs and get the same results, they will do it. It’s hard to reverse a trend of servicing customers from overseas when it has such a dramatic effect on the bottom line. Unfortunately, loyalty to people ends at the water’s edge.

One Way to Stop Exporting Service Work is to…

Transform service into new sales.

Turn reaction into pro-action! Transition customer service into a NEW business profit center.

There’s a big payoff to transform service into new sales and revenue. In the NEW game of business, service IS sales, and the best kind of marketing you can do.

People prefer to be served than sold, and would rather be patronized than pitched (or marketed to). Serving first adds value in advance. When you serve, deliver, serve some more, you transform customer care from a cost center into a profit center. People will want more of what you’re “serving” up.

Marketing is expense. Sales are income. Service is expense.

Most companies have two bookend expense areas draining one primary income source. Sales departments are under constant and often intense pressure to produce more revenue to cover marketing costs and service expense, and generate profit to boot. It’s no great mystery why sales teams suffer high turnover.

The NEW Game Solution:
Integrate marketing, sales and service into one holistic process.

Turn salespeople into advisors, and service people into true customer care specialists. As your service people contribute to new sales, the cost of marketing goes down and the profit per customer goes up.

Service people can advance customer relationships, open up new business and get referrals. With a few strategic questions, they can uncover new buying opportunities in the same conversation in which they resolve issues and solve problems.

Service can be one of the best sources of hot leads and new sales.

Turning service into profit transforms your army of trouble-shooters into customer care advocates. Among the best marketing your company can do is to serve people a great experience every time they engage customer service.

We must remind ourselves why it’s called, “customer service!”

In the NEW Game… everybody sells, everybody serves!

Marketing, sales and service are one holistic process, not three separate, competing departments.

A “service first” strategy transforms service into profit.

If we are serious about keeping service jobs in America, we must invest in PEOPLE, our most valuable assets. An investment in new thinking, new training and new tools pays off in new revenue and new profit.

Teach them, train them, and arm them with new skills. Encourage them to serve, deliver, and serve some more. Give them a stake in the outcome.

Transform them from an expense center into new profit center.
How can we slow down or reverse the trend of exporting American jobs?

Here are 10 of the dozens of distinctions we made during our live seminar in San Diego:

The NEW Game… of Business, Money and Life!

1. Welcome to the Age of Interdependence: You can’t do it alone. Your team is as valuable as your talent. Sometimes, more valuable. Assemble your team. Playing with better players makes you a better player.

2. Life is not a zero sum game: 1 + 1 = INFINITY! Don’t compromise; aim for highest and best in all transactions. If one party loses, all parties lose. Highest and best creates more pie for everyone.

3. Response-ability is NOT Optional! Control the Decision Gaps between what you can’t control (stimulus) and what you do control (response). Reaction is in the past, response is in the present. Reaction is no-choice, choice; it’s automatic. Response is a conscious choice; it’s intentional. Make conscious choices; control the decision gap.

4. If you want people to respond differently, CHANGE YOUR STIMULUS! It’s the definition of insanity to continue giving the same stimulus and expecting a different response. If you want me to respond differently, don’t try to change me; CHANGE YOUR STIMULUS!

5. Time is inelastic; watch it carefully and trade it wisely. If you earn $100 per hour, for every hour you do $10 work you must earn $190 in the next hour to break even. If you can earn more than you can pay someone to do a task, delegate it. Fill as many hours as you can with “$100/hour” work.

6. People aren’t much interested in what you sell; they’re interested in what they get. They’re even more interested in how they’re treated. If you really want to know, ask them “How do you like to be treated?” How do YOU like to be treated?

7. Don’t fall in love with your products and services (this one really pushed buttons). Instead, fall in love with what you do for people. Sell the love.

8. Put the game in motion. Get clear on what you do, why you do it, and who you’re looking for. Take a Millionaire to Lunch. Tell everyone what you do, why you do it and who you’re looking for.

9. Residual income will become the backbone of the NEW Game of Money. Network marketing will be the residual income vehicle of choice for anyone who doesn’t write, act, sing or make movies. There are few choices to generate residual income. There is no better residual income model than network marketing. Why? Low risk, high yield, tax-favored, and the most reliable and predictable source of residual income in the new game of money.

10. Ask yourself, “Are YOU your best (or most profitable) product?” Or might you be worth more through collaboration with someone else? In other words, are you a jockey or a horse? Are you the rider or the ride? Do you work for someone else, or do others work for you? Riding a good horse is as important as being a good jockey. The best jockeys ride the best horses. What’s your active, passive and residual income horse?

11. Bonus Distinction: THE Ultimate Profit Model™ maximizes the bottom line by generating new revenue with little or no expense. If you’re self-employed or run a Fortune 500 company, THE Ultimate Profit Model will generate more income with less cost.

If you’re ready to play a new game of business, money and life, I encourage you to get in the game, jump on the field, step up to the plate, and swing the bat.

My aim is to help you prepare your game plan, assemble your team and play to the best of your ability.

It’s time to play by new rules, design a new strategy, practice new economics, seek a new mission, send a new message, chant a new mantra, find new solutions, acquire new skills, build a new model and generate new money.

These are the 10 core principles to play and win The NEW Game of Business!™

September 11 is always a special day; it’s Mom’s birthday. That day took on a whole new significance in 2001. September 11, 2004 was the first birthday without Mom. She passed on March 22, 2004. Mom was a giving person, always sharing what she had with others. She encouraged her children to be generous, and modeled it by her actions.

Mom’s spirit was to celebrate life. To honor her spirit and her birthday, on September 11 I decided to invite anyone who wants one to download a digital copy of my book, The NEW Game of Business.

There is one request I have that I hope won’t offend you (some people have called me horrible things for this):

To download the book and read it, I ask you first to “PLAY it Forward!”

I ask you to share it with other people who you feel would appreciate it, read it, benefit from it, and not be offended that you would send them a gift without their permission. As I said to one highly critical opponent of PLAY it Forward, “It’s a game. You can pass, or you can play.”

If you’d like to download and read a digital version of, “The NEW Game of Business™” visit our home page and click the BIG RED BUTTON on the right that says, “PLAY it Forward!”